A Safe Distance — Bernadette Walsh

How close is too close? Ellie Barrett and Joanna Fox are neighbors who used to be friends. Now they are neighbors who pretend to be friends. And that's okay with Ellie. With three children, a sick mother and a difficult husband who admires the slim athletic Joanna a little too much, Ellie doesn't have time for neurotic Joanna Fox. A wave and a nod across the cul-de-sac and the occasional car pool is enough for Ellie. She prefers to keep her distance. Yet, when a global pandemic strikes and the Barrett and Fox families are trapped together on their picturesque cul-de-sac, Joanna can no longer successfully suppress the demons of her childhood and Ellie can no longer ignore the cracks in her marriage or the strange attraction between her mercurial husband and her bothersome neighbor next door. Will the two families rally to protect themselves from the violence that threatens their suburban oasis? Or will long-held secrets blow the two families — and their respective marriages — apart?